If you have a front-wheel-drive car, you have halfshafts that transmit torque to the front wheel. Eventually, they'll wear out.

How to Replace Your Car's Halfshaft

How to Replace Your Car's Halfshaft

Most cars sold in the United States drive the front tires. It makes for inexpensive, easy-to-manufacture, roomy cars that get better gas mileage than the rear-wheel-drive alternative. Getting power from the transmission to the front wheels is a bit of a challenge though. That's what a halfshaft does. The two halfshafts have the simple job of transmitting torque to each of the front wheels. But that job is complicated by the drastic up-and-down motion of those wheels, the near-90-degree difference in lock-to-lock steering angle, and the requirement to attach to a stationary transmission.

In spite of this the halfshaft is a robust part with a reliable 100,000-mile life span. Still, like every stressed part, it eventually fails. The rubber boot on the wheel side is usually the culprit (see next slide: "How Rzeppa Joints Fail"). It's easy to diagnose. If your car drives fine in a straight line but you hear a ticking noise from the outside wheel when you crank the steering wheel to lock, that shaft on the outside of the turn needs to be replaced. This may sound complicated, but the repair is actually easy enough to do in the driveway with a few hand tools. Replace the whole halfshaft, and don't attempt to repair the boot—it'll just go bad again. Buy a remanufactured halfshaft at a parts store, then take the old one in after the repair. They'll buy it back as a core and sell it to a recycler, who will rebuild it for resale. In all, the fix will probably cost less than a hundred bucks. Sweat the details though; nobody wants a wheel to fall off.